Setting the Pace

Are You A Walker, Jogger, Or Runner??

To get the most benefit from the training clinic, it is important to progress at a pace that is right for you. This year we will be breaking into five major groups for our practice sessions. Please read the criteria below and decide which group you should join. You may change groups as your training progresses.

1. Walkers

Anyone who intends to walk most (or all) of the Bloomsday Race, and/or anyone who has had minimal physical activity in the past six weeks.

2. Racewalkers

Anyone who would like to learn and/or practice racewalking techniques.

3. Joggers

Anyone interested in combining jogging and walking (or just jogging if you can stay within your training heart rate range). No prior jogging activity is required to join this group.

4. Runners

Must have been involved in an aerobic activity (continuous exercise for at least 20 minutes, where training heart rate is maintained) at least three times a week for the past six weeks. Must be able to sustain a 8-minute mile pace.

How Much Is Too Much??

There are several ways to tell if you are exercising too hard. They are:

Faintness, dizziness, nausea, chest tightness and/or pain, major shortness of breath, or loss of muscle control. If you feel any of these, cool down, and then stop exercising. Relax completely.

Heart rate too high. Count your pulse 1-2 minutes into your cool-down. It should have dropped 20 to 30 beats per minute or slower. If not, you're pushing yourself too hard. Count your pulse again after five minutes. If it is not below 100 beats per minute, continue your cool-down until your heart rate has dropped. Ease up a little on your exercise program.

Tiredness. Exercise should take some work but not make you feel wornout and tired all the time. If it does, you may be overdoing it. Slow down. The goal is to have exercise help you feel energized, lively, and happy.

Inability to talk while exercising. You should be able to talk with a partner while exercising aerobically. If you are too short of breath to talk during exercise, you are overexerting yourself.

Modified Perceived Exertion Scale

Using this scale, you can correlate your perception of exercise effort with actual intensity level. Once you have established your upper and lower THR range, it is important to perceive how you feel within that range. Is your heart rate and respiration elevated to a moderate level? Can you still talk, or are you breathless? What do your muscles feel like in this range? Eventually, it will be easy to use the scale for your intensity level by self-perception rather than by having to stop to take your pulse. A perceived exertion of 4-5 on the modified Perceived Exertion (PE) scale of 1-5 is too much.

Here's how the Modified Perceived Exertion Scale should be used:

Ratings:

1 - 2 Considered very easy exercise (lolli-gaggin' and smellin' the roses). Try to increase your pace at this point. This level of exertion is more appropriate for the warm-up and cool-down phases of exercise.

3 - 3.5 Where you should try to be-at a moderate level where your respiration and heart rate are elevated and feel you could continue this pace for the remainder of your workout.

4 - 5 A good indication is that you might be breathless or that you can't sing or talk. This is too vigorous-slow it down to a more moderate pace.